Cell phone addiction - ‘NOMOPHOBIA’

One in four young people across the world has a problematic relationship with their smartphone. Some signs are severe and not to be underestimated. These numbers, which attest to how close we are to the concentration of technology are the result of a worldwide study conducted by the research company Dscout four years ago. Meanwhile, the pervasiveness of its use and the functions available have increased dramatically. This leads people, and often younger people, to become addicted to mobile phones , developing what scientists call ‘nomophobia’.

This word is the contraction of the English terms ‘No mobile phone phobia’, a fear of being without a mobile phone and refers to the sense of anguish we feel when our smartphone no longer works, we forget it, we lose it, or we have a low battery or we are disconnected. A quarter of young people under the age of 25 have a smartphone addiction - with symptoms ranging from panic to anxiety, according to a study published last year by King’s College London on BMC Psichiatry and which took into European and American and Asian analysis.

To prevent the onset of addiction and nomophobia it is essential to teach children and adolescents to have a healthy relationship with their smartphone , limiting the time of use and speaking openly about the consequences of an addiction to the medium. Parents, however, must also beware of alarm bells. Among these are visual disturbances or eye problems (due to too much time spent in front of the small smartphone screen), changes in sleep rhythms, poor personal hygiene, online connection replacing live relationships, lack of interest in activities of daily living, and inability to talk about things other than what you see on the Internet. Taking immediate action allows you to avoid the onset of physical, psychological and social problems.

Nomophobia is not the only form of mobile phone addiction. Other dangerous habits are ‘vamping’ and ‘phubbing’ . The first takes its name from acting like vampires, and indicates those who stay awake until late at night because they are unable to detach themselves from their smartphone. The term phubbing comes from the fusion of ‘phone’ and ‘snubbing’ which means to ignore, and indicates the bad habit of ignoring the real people around you, because they are too absorbed by your technological device.

Nomophobia (short for ‘no mobile phobia’) is a humorous word for the fear of, or anxiety caused by, not having a working mobile phone.